The Golden Dreydl. Ellen Kushner. Illustrated by Ilene Winn-Lederer. 2007. 126 pages. [Source: Review copy]
First sentence: It was the holiday season, but Sara was not happy. Riding home from school in the bus was pure torture. Sara stared out the window at all the colored lights decorating the houses on street after street....Sometimes people left their curtains open, and Sara could see right into their living rooms, where big trees glittered and shone.
Premise/plot: First and foremost potential readers need to know this is a spin on The Nutcracker. Sara, our protagonist, is about to go on a little adventure with her "gift" from an eccentric relation. It is a Chanukah themed fantasy novel for children.
Sara is not looking forward to Chanukah. She doesn't want to celebrate with her family. She definitely doesn't want to play dreydl with all of her cousins--some older, some younger. She's just a super-crank. But when her great-aunt comes with gifts, well, things get interesting. Sara receives a golden dreydl. It doesn't make her want to play dreydl, more, but it is lovely all the same.
But that night when every one else is sleeping....well....Sara has an adventure of her own...and it all begins with the transformation of the Golden Dreydl into a girl. They arrive in a fantasy land, of sorts, with demons, peacocks, a fool,
and King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. There is also much talk of a
Tree of Life.
Sara is given a quest, of sorts, to save the girl from the demons/demon
king. She has the Fool to help her. A few riddle games are played.
First, between Sara and the Fool, and, then later between the Demon King
and Sara and the Fool.
My thoughts: As I said, this one is a spin off of The Nutcracker. There is music that goes with this one. I highly recommend listening to the music.
© 2022 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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